Managing director Graeme Ankers said the studio came about “organically” because the team knew it “wanted to carry on making great games”. 15 of Firesprite’s 20 staff are Studio Liverpool veterans, and the five founding members of Firesprite have experience with every piece of PlayStation hardware to date, but Ankers said the new studio is independent and not necessarily tied to Sony platforms.

Firesprite’s first job was collaborating on The Playroom, the PS4’s free PlayStation Camera sandbox, and it’s now working on a mysterious new project which it isn’t ready to reveal.

“We have been working hard on creating a new game engine and tool chain that allows us to put the creative power in the best hands – the artists and designers,” technical director Chris Roberts said.

“That puts us in a great position delivering the best experiences for players. It also allows us to get our games running on multiple platforms including mobile – so we can deliver platform specific features that make the best games.”

Studio Liverpool dates back to 1984; it was founded as Psygnosis and was one of Britain’s most interesting publishers. Sony purchased and renamed it in 1993, after which it doubled down on racing games, particularly Wipeout. Ankers isn’t yet sure whether the new team will pursue Psygnosis’s back catalogue.

“I don’t know where this journey is going to take us. Ultimately, we love these games, but the decision isn’t ours. Wipeout is a special game. Its soul comes from Liverpool’s development history,” he said.